Give me some sunshine...

The weather has turned pleasant while the Chennai Super Kings were away from home. Despite the cool sea breeze blowing continuously, the home team wasn't too happy about the conditions during their practice at the M A Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday. Sanjjeev Karan Samyal reports.

The weather has turned pleasant while the Chennai Super Kings were away from home. Despite the cool sea breeze blowing continuously, the home team wasn't too happy about the conditions during their practice at the M A Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday.

In fact, they would trade anything to be back to sweating in a hot and humid environment, to ensure their home game is not washed out. That is because of the situation they are in.

The conditions have turned cooler thanks to thunderstorms here in the last two days. And the weather bureau has predicted more for Monday, when the CSK take on the Pune Warriors.

With three defeats in five games, the defending champions cannot afford to drop a point. Pune are also in the same situation, having lost their last two games (2 wins, 2 losses in 4 matches), but they would not mind sharing points considering that they are up against a team who have won six of their last seven encounters at the venue.

The CSK have picked up just four of the 10 points that were on offer so far, but it's a tribute to MS Dhoni's side that no one is prepared to write them off yet. CSK's greatest quality is their fighting spirit. In every IPL season, they have been under pressure early on but have turned on the magic when it mattered.

The 10-team IPL IV has turned out to be topsy-turvy with no clear favourites emerging close to the half-way stage. But, it's time to take control and gather momentum.

Coach Stephen Fleming is banking on the home advantage to script a turnaround. "We have won both our home games at Chennai, so if we win all the home games in the season, we are going to be close to the play offs." CSK thrive under pressure and the current situation is tailor-made for them. Debutants Pune have to prove their mettle and they have the ideal testing ground in Monday's battle.